Method and apparatus for making strand or rope



Oct. 28, 1958 I w. H. SIMCOE 2,857,731

- mnon AND APPARATUS For: MAKING STRAND on ROPE Filed May 28, 1954INVENTOR. WILLIAM H. S/MCOE,

his Attorney.

United States Patent F METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING STRAND 0R ROPEWilliam H. Simcoe, Hamden, Conn., assignor to United States SteelCorporation, a corporation of New J ersey Application May 28, 1954,Serial No. 433,079

3 Claims. (Cl. 57--64) This invention relates to the manufacture of wirerope or strand and, in particular, to the closing die through which theelements pass as they are twisted together, and a drive therefor.

In machines for making Wire rope or strand as constructed heretofore,the die was either fluted or helically grooved or, if originally smooth,became fluted or grooved as a result of Wear because it was permitted torotate at the same speed as the stranding machine. Fluted dies areobjectionable because of the difficulty in resetting them afteradjustment or repair. It is desirable therefore to employ a smooth-boredie and maintain it unfluted even after long use. This is the object ofmy invention.

In a preferred embodiment and practice, I provide a closing die whichoriginally has a smooth cylindrical bore and I further provide means fordriving it at a speed different from that of the stranding or twistingmachine whereby relative rotary movement occurs between the die and thestrand or rope being formed therein. This relative movement insures thatany resulting wear of the die Will be distributed uniformly throughoutthe circumference of the bore instead of being concentrated at spacedpoints. The result is that the die does not wear to a fluted conditionbut the bore thereof always remains smooth, i. e., of uniform radius atany given plane of cross-section.

A complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from thefollowing detailed description and explanation which refer to theaccompany drawing. In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a stranding machineembodying the invention;

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the closing die; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged axial section through the die, taken along theplane of line III-III of Figure 2.

Referring in detail to the drawing, a stranding machine of the usualtype comprises a rotor 10 including circular end plates 11 and 11 spacedalong an axial shaft 12. The left end of the shaft may be supported in acombined radial and thrust bearing 13. The plate 11' at the other endrides on hearing rollers 14. Spool holders 15 extending between the endplates are rotatable on axes parallel to shaft 12 and rotatably supportspools 16 of wire or strand. Wires or strands 17 from spools 16 aredrawn through the trunnions of the spool holders and alined holes in endplate 11', then through holes in a guide plate 18 on the extreme end ofshaft 12 beyond the end plate. The machine as described so far isconventional and forms no part of my invention.

A die chuck 19 is journaled in a fixed post 20, coaxially with thestranding machine. A closing die 21 having a smooth bore 22 extendingaxially therethrough and flaring at the entrance end, is fixed in thechuck. The die serves to progressively compress the wires or strands 17into a solid compact strand or rope as the latter is formed by thetwisting resulting from rotation of the machine, the length of strand orrope already formed being held against rotation as by being coiled onthe usual haul-01f drum (not shown).

The rotor 10 is driven by a motor 23 through a chainand-sprocket drive24 and an intermediate shaft 25 paral- Patented Oct. 28, 1958 lel toshaft 12. Shaft 25 drives shaft 12 through a chain-and-sprocket drive26. Drives 24 and 26 are designed to effect revolution of the rotor atany speed suitable for stranding or strand-laying.

I also provide means for driving chuck 19 in the same direction as therotor 10 but at a speed diflierent from that of the rotor. Convenientlythe chuck may be driven from shaft 25 through a chain-and-sprocket drive27. The speed of the chuck may be greater or less than that of rotor 10and, for best results should vary from the rotor speed by at least 10%up to a differential of about 50%. That is to say, for a rotor speed ofR. P. M., for example, the die chuck speed should be from 50 to 90 R. P.M. or from to R. P. M. In this way, any wear on the bore 22 is uniformlydistributed with no chance of being sufi iciently concentrated to formhelical flutes or grooves. As a result, bore 22 remains circular at alltimes and wholly free from flutes resulting from wear.

The invention described has several advantages. In the first place, bythe use of a non-fluted die and maintaining it free from flutes evenafter prolonged Wear, the cross-section of the finished strand or ropeis made such that it can be circumscribed by a true circle instead of anellipse or other non-crcular shape as might occur in case ofconcentrated wear on the die bore. A further advantage is that therotation of the die produces a wiping action on the finished strand orrope tending to compress the outer wires or strands against the innerones and prevent looseness in the stranded structure. As already pointedout, furthermore, it is easier to reset a non-fluted die than a fluteddie after adjustment or repair.

Although I have disclosed herein the preferred embodiment and practiceof my invention, I intend to cover as well any change or modificationtherein which may be made Without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention.

I claim:

1. In a method ofmaking stranded structures, the steps including drawingelements of the structure through a closing die while twisting theelements together at a predetermined speed and rotating the die aboutthe axis of the structure at a speed diiferent from the speed oftwisting the elements.

2. In a machine for making stranded structures, the combination with arotor having spool-holders pivotally mounted thereon, of a closing diethrough which elements of said structure are drawn from spools in saidholders as the rotor is turned at a predetermined speed to twist saidelements together, and means for driving said die at a speed diiferentfrom that of said rotor.

3. In a machine for making stranded structures, the combination with arotor having spool holders pivotally mounted thereon and means fordriving the rotor to twist together elements drawn from spools on saidholders toward a common point on the axis of the rotor spaced from oneend thereof, of a rotary tubular closing die coaxial with said rotorhaving its entrance end substantially at said point, effectiveprogressively to compress said elements into a solid compact structure,and means for driving said die at a speed different from that of saidrotor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS189,099 Higby Apr. 3, 1877 1,907,651 Morgan et a1 May 9, 1933 2,342,999Brownell Feb. 29, 1944 2,411,291 Ramstedt Nov. 19, 1946 2,412,196Ashbaugh Dec. 10, 1946

